Mixing valve



June 8 1926. 1,588,175

A G. s. EBLE MIXI NG VALVE Filed 00T 26, 1922 -2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORGRO VER S. EBLE A TToR NE YS Patented J une S, 1926.

l UNITED STATES PATENT lor-rice. N

'Gnovnn s. nenn, on NEW YORK, N.V.Y., Assreno'n To FRITZ lzinennn, JR.,oFNnw j i YORK, n. Y. f v l ivrixine VALVE.

i f Application filed October 26,1922. Serial `No.'-596,95'7.

' either cold water alone or hot water alone,

or a mixture of both in variable proportions. The object of my inventionis to provide a very leflicient apparatus of'this class which willafford special `facilities lforassembling, dismembering, and adjustingthe parts, to-

gether with other advantages which will apj pear from the detaileddescription following hereinafter.

IVithout intending` to restrict myself to the particular constructionsillustrated, I will now explain two satisfactory einbodiments of myinventiony as shown in the accompanying drawings, in which 1 is acentral .section through one forni of my invention, taken on line 1-1 ofFig. 4, with parts ybroken away, and showing the valve fully closed;Figs.v 2 and' 3 are partial sections,kon the same plane as Fig. 1, butFig. 2 shows the valve in a partly open position in which it delivers-cold water only, while Fig. 8 shows the valve opened'to a greaterextent so as to discharge a mixture of hot Vwater and cold water; Fig. 4is a section online4-'44 of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a perspective view of oneof the valve. parts; Fig. 6 is a section on line G-Gof Fig. 1. withparts broken away; Fig. 7 is a detail axial section of one of the parts;Fig. 8 shows another form of my invention, 'n in a section taken onlineS-S` of Fig. 10 and I corresponding to Fig. 1; Figs.y 9, 10, `and 11are sections on lines 9-9, l10--10, and 11-11 respectively of Fig. 8;and Fig. 12 is a perspective view of one of the parts of the mechanism.

In the drawings, the. axis of the valve is shown vertical, and for thesake ofconvenience I have used terms such as upper and lowerf indescribing the relation of'certain v parts g' it will be understood,however, that the valve may be used'in any desired position. c y l f Thedevice illustrated in Figs. 1 to 7 comrises a lower casing member 2Oprovi-dedy in its u per portion with a cylindrical recess or e'iambersurrounded by an Ainternally threaded wall or flange 2i, at the bottomof which 'is arranged a plane tlmremital) 'wall other for hot water.

or partition22. Below this partition'are three compartments 23, '24,25separated by rvertical partitions 26, 27 28 whichfextend downwardly fromthe partition 22 to the Utl bottom wall ofthecasing member 20, a cy-llin'drical wall 29 reaching from said bottom wall to the partition 22,thus forming a pocket or well 30 open at thetop.` The two compartments23, 24, which inthe construe`- tion shown are of the same sizeandfsyin`- A'metrioalI to the plane ofthe partition 27,

are inlet compartments con'imunicating with spuds 31, l32 respectively,one of these serv.-

ying for the supply offcol'd water, l and the In the drawings, it has 1been Aassumed that the spud 31 is connected with the vsupply of coldwater, and therspud y32 with the supply of hot water.v The spuds may bethreaded externally or internally p for yproper connectionwiththe'water'supf ply, internal threads being shown. rIhe partition orwall `221'ifs `provided with` two preferably segmental through openings33,

`34 which are. ofthe same shape and placed symmetrically with respect tothe plane ofi*- the partition 27 On its outer side, each opening 33, 34is provided with an extension 35, 36 respectively, in a diametercorresponding to that in which the diametricalthird Spud, 37, is located'at right angles to the other two, and communicates with the thirdcompartment, "25, which is the outlet compartment and has been shownsomewhat smaller than the inlet compartments, al-l thoughthis notnecessary.

On the' upper faceof the partition 22 isset the valve-seat dislBS havinga central port 39 which communicates with a recess 40 provided inthe'lower-face of's'aiddislc, saidy recess extending in a' substantiallyradial direction and being adapt-ed tov communicate atits outer end,`with either of the openings 83, 34. In the position shown (see.particularly Fig. 6), therecess v4() communicates with Ithe opening 33,and therefore with the compartment 23 and with the spud 31. The disk 38is' further providedl with segmental ports 41, 42, of which theformercommunif this position of the parts thecold water may indeed findits way along the fluted stem 63 'the word Shut of the indicator ring orplate 80. The vhandle has been inserted originally in such a way that itwill point to Shut when the member'55 is screwed in fully. Now supposethat we turn the handle slightly toward the word Cold.V The interlockingof the teeth 59 with those of the member 71 compels the member 55 toturnWith theihandle 72, yet as the' teeth of `one of these members may slidelengthwise on those of the other membeigthe threaded member can moveaxially or upward at the same time that it turns with the toothed member71. This lifting movement carriesy the parts to a position of thecharacter indicated in Fig. 2; that is to say, the lower face of theportion 62 is carried away from the washer 70, so that a passageisopenedy for the cold water, along the flutes of the stem 63, to thechamber above the washer 70. The coiled spring 69 is strong'f enough toprevent the pressure of the hot water (acting throughv the port 41)-from raising the valve member 50, 52, 53 from the disky 38.' Underthecireumstances justdescribed,

- therefore, only' cold water will passv into the chamber above thewasher 70, such cold water escaping upwardly through the holes 57 andthen passingdownwardly between the shell of member 46 and the outersurface of member or sleeve 49,"then passing through the port 42 andopening 43 into the compartment 25 land through the spurl 37 to the`place of use. Suppose the handle 72 is then turned farther in the samedirection (anti-clockwise),- toward the word Mix., At a certain point ofthe further lifting movement thus given tothe member 55, the valvemember 50, 52', 53 will be raised, either by the enga ement of the topflange 53 by the bottom ange 54 of the member 55, or (and this willgenerally be preferable), by the'engagement of the upper end of the nutportion 64 with the bottom plate 52. It will be obvious that by properlydimensioning the parts, one or the other of these ways of lifting themember 50, 52, 53 will be obtained, as desired. I generally prefer tolift bythe action of the nut por- `tion 64 for the -reason that theflangev 53 is small and therefore liable to become worn or damaged ifemployed to receive the lifting strain. As soon as the bottom plate 52is ber surrounded by the sleeve 49, such hot water passing throughtheslots 51 `and thus reaching the holes 57, `fromwhich it passes vtothe outlet` in the same manner as dex scribed above with reference tothelpath of 'the cold water. v The cold water will no "face off the platev52, and then up and in? wardly through the slots 51, mixing with 'thehot water and following the same path from the interior of the body 50to the'outlet spud 37. This mixing position is shownl in Fig. 3. Uponturning` the handle 72 still farther in the same direction, toward theword Hot, the upward movement of the member 55 will continue until it is`arrested by the engagement ofthe plate 66 on the nut 65 with the lowersurface ofthe dislr` y38, at the recess 40 of said disk. Inasmuehas suchengagement isof a watertight character, the cold-water passagethroughthe central port 39l will thus be closed, 'and lfrom that momentvon only liveredfthrough the spud 37. v

Fig. 1 shows the vertical or axial dimension of the engaged portionofthe toothed 'member 71 smaller than thev corresponding dimension ofthe threaded flange 45. With this arrangement, it is possible to firstScrew the'member 55 down fully, before applying the member 46, thenscrew the said upper casing member 46 but' slightly on the lower easingmember and vthen withdraw the toothed member 71 from engagement with theteeth 59 by an upward pull on the handle, until the upper `face of saidtoothed member 71 engages the lower surface of the boss 83 on theuppercasing member 46. Owing to ythe special relation of dimensions abovereferred to, the clearance between the lower surface of the boss 83(with the member 46 almost fully unscrewed fromthe memhot water willbedeber 20, but still in threaded engagement v therewith) and the uppersurface of the member 55 (with thelatter in the lowermost position, asinFigs. 1 and 8) will be greater theV handle will be moved down to `bringthe toothed member 71 into engagement with the teeth 459 of the member55, and thereupon the upper casing member 46 would be screwed downfully,to the position shown in lFig. 1. It will also be noted that thehandle 7 2 ismade with a bend of smooth curvature,

and thatv the gland 77 hasy a curved innersurface in yengagement withthe handle; am thus enabled yto make the handle vin one piece and yetintroduce and withdraw-n -it readily when desired, after unscrewing theupper membei or bonnet 46. While the bonnet is screwed down, however,lthe handle cannot be removed, since the means (screw 74) holding Vthehandle is located within the casi-ng ofthe appliance. rlhe bonnet icanbe removed only with the aid of a special large wrench suchas is notreadilyavailable to the casual sneak thief. The nut -7 8 likewise cannotbe removed unless the bonnet is first lifted off fand the handlewithdrawn. Theft of vtheexposed .parts'of the appliance is thusvrendered di-fhcult.

In some cases it may be desirable to 'use the spud 31 for connectionwiththe hot water supply, and the spud 32 as a cold water inlet. To enablethis to be done readily, I have provided th 4disk 38 with an additionalport 42', similar to the port 42, and llocated symmetrically thereto. Inthe position illustrated, this port 42 lies on a solid -portion of the:partition 22, and is closed, being in watertight engagementwith saidpartition. When itis desired to use spud 3l for 'fthe rhot waterconnection, and spud 32 vforcold water, the upper casing member 46willbe'screwed off, Vthe disk 38 lifted torge'ther with the partssupported thereon until the heads ofthe screws 47 are clearof vthe:partition 22, the disk with said parts would then be given a half-turnabout its axis, and after :replacing the disk `in this ynew position,with the screw heads 48 in the eX- tensions 35, 36 ofthe ports 33, 34respectively, the upper' member 46 would be screwed down again. in Athisnew assembly, the port 42 will be Lin ythe position previously occupiedvby ythe port 42, and the port 4l will exchange positions with therecess 40. That is to say, the recess 40 will nowy communicate with theport A34, the 1port 4l with `the port 33, and the vport 42 with the:pont 4 3, while the port 42 will register'with, and be'clo'sed by, Iasolid iort-ion'of -the parftition 22. Q

In `will be noted that -in ltaking; the appa.- fratus :apart there is:no need of disturbing .ithe lower casing member 2O or the connections`made with itsspuds-3l, 32, and 37, and ythat after unscrewng the uppermember or bonnet 4 the disk may be li fted olf with the parts supportedthereon, as 'has been stated above. f l

'ln the rform of my invention illustrated 'bly FigsyS to l2, the screws4? secure a sleeve 49 similar to the sleeve 49 but having its 'internalthread continued farther down, The upper portion of this internal threadco-operates with the external thread on the member 55, ofsubstai'i'tially thesame `construction as the member 55. The top :plate56 however not relied upon to furlessees nish a. passage for the water,but lhas la .screw-threaded opening to receive a screw 84, for a purposeto be-stated presently.k In order that the position 'of Vthe screw 84may be adjusted if required, I have shown `two openings 35, located atabout `w30." from vthe opening inr which the screw 34 is placed, andalso threaded to receive said screw; `these extra openings 85 `how-evermay vfbefomitted.

llhen they are used, .they form passages for i a small portion of .theWater, but Athe mai-n flow of lthe water 'is through a `different path,fas will be explained below. 'The separable connection at 6l, 62 is thesamefas in the first vform of my invention, but ythe stem.-v

63 is 'of a diameter -to pass with 'a sliding fit through the centralport 39 vof .the disk 38, and is made withspiifal grooyesithrough which,when the head 62 iisralised., water Amay Ip ass from th'erecess 40 .to-the .chamber above the ydisk 38. It will be noted "that in `this formof my invention the lower surface of the head 62 comes into `sealing`:engagement with the upperfface of the -disk k38, the vbottom plate 52of the valve member body 50' .in this ycase controlling only the l.port4l.

through which hot water passes tothe chamber above rthe disk 538. The'ou-twardly-extending top flange 53 of this yal-ve body is adapted tolbe engaged by the inwardly eX- "monding Afiange 86 at the lowerportion'of a member o screwing into the .sleeve 49, rbelowgthe member55.l Erom said uneinber `37 a `ian'ge or short ftubular -Aextension 188.provjects upwardly, at lthe 1same vdistance from the airis as the screw84, `and `this tubular lextension has al cut-out lportion 89 ig. 9) sothat the member 55 may vbe given .a limited movement before xthe screw34will come against the end of the eut-out 39 'and then ]'ior'tion of the'sleeve 49".. 'silhe-otherparts vof this construction are the saine vasin Itho forni of my tinvention yfirst described.

The operation of they second lform of my invention iis as follows: Figxsho-ws the valve closed. If Lnow the handle f7 2 and the member 55areturned toward theopen position, said member 55"., vfor-aboutone-.fourth of a `revolution, will turn without taking along 'the member8??,the screw 84itraveling (anti-clockwise lin Fig. 9) -intheslotor Yplate 52 downto hold the inlet port 41.

cut-out 89. The head 62 lis lifted off the'disk 38, owing` tothe upwardmovement of the.

member 55', and thusl cold water will pass from the recess 40 to the,`outlet 42, through the passage' ,described above, edge of the tubularmember 87 will press the closed at this stage of the oper-ation. As thehandle7 2 is turned farther toward .the open position, the screw 84 willtake the member 87 along, causing this member to rise, so that theflange 86 Willengage and lift the'flange 53,.thereby insuring theopeninglof the in@l let port-41, although this opening will reallyoccur, by the pressure of the hot water, as

soonas'the lower end of thev member 87 rises from the bottom flange 52..In the closed position of ythe valve (Fig. '8) Athe head 62 contributesto hold the plate 52 seated. The iiangesj86 and 5,3 "might beomitted. Assoon as the plate 52 islifted as described,

.a mixture of hotand cold .water will pass i to the outlet 42. A furtherturning of the handle V72 toward the open position will` bring the plate66 at the top ofthe nut 65 against the lower surface of the. disk 3S, to

shut off the supply of coldwater, `while hot iirst turn in unison withthe member V55 or 55 but as soon as the head engages its seat butlightly, friction willr besuiiicient to stop rotation of the head', andthe member 55 or will from that moment on rotate alone, but .the head62will stillA be pressed ldown axially. By this construction I preventthel head 62 from grinding its seat. Similarly, the plate 52 isrotatably connected wit-h the spring 69 and witlrthe member 55, so thatthe said plate will not grind on its seat, but

. will allow the member 55 and the spring69 to turn without rotating theplate 52, as soon as the latter engages its seat. The same remark willapply to the plate 52 and tothe member 87 of the, second construction"described above.v

The disk 38A is preferably made ofrelatively compressible material, suchas hard rubber or Babbitt metal, so that the clamping action of the twocasing membersQO, 46 will readily produce tight joints at both faces ofsaid disk.

The disk 38 has two inlet ports, 39 andi 41, of which the port 39 iscontrolled, vat the top, by the valve member or head 62, and, at thebottom, by the valve member 66 moving in unison with said head; Theother port, 41, is controlled by the separately movable valve member 52or 52', and is seated when the head 62 seals theupper or discharge endofthe inlet 39. The spring 69,y

in the first. form ofmy invention, and the y @member 87,l inthe secondform, constitute The bottomA holdingfmeans for keeping the valvemembe'r52 or 52` seated while the valve member" or head 62 moves to a cert-ain`distance from its seat, The partsv54 or64, in the first form of myinvention, and the part 84, vin the second form, constitute relievingmeans operated simultaneously with the movement of the `valve member orhead 62 Ibeyondsuch distanceV from its seat, for stopping the`valve-seating action of said holding means.

4Some of the features of my invention are applicable to valves other*`than f mixing valves, as Will be evident from the appended claims.

Variousmodiiications may be made with-v out departing fromthe nature ofmy inven` tion as deiined yin the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a device of the character described,

afvalve casing having a chamber with twor inlets and an outlet, 'amovable valve membercontrolling one of said inlets, rotary actuatingmeans for pressing said valve member toward its seat,"said means beingyheld to move in unison with the valve member toward and from its seat,but being connected with said member in such a manner as to permitrotation of the vactuating means relativelyto thevalve member whereby assoon" as the latter` is seated lightly, it will cease toy tu'rn,'thus`preventing a grinding action of the valve member on its seat, aseparately movable member controlling the other inlet, rotatable holdingmeans for keeping the,

second-named valve memberseated lwhile the first-named valve membermovesto a certain distancegfrom itszseat, and relieving means, operatedsimultaneously with the movement of said first-named valve member beyondsuch distance from its seat, for stopping the valve-seating action ofsaid holding means.

y2. In a device of the characterl described,

a valve 4casing having a chamber with two inlets for the ladmission ofdifferent fluids and an outlet, a movable valve member cone, trollingone yof said inlets, a Iseparately movable valve member controlling theother inlet and opening in the same direction as the firstnamed valvemember', and' heldseated` bythe pressurev of the iirst-named valvememberwhenthe latter seals the inlet it contro-ls, means for operatingthe first-named valve ,m'embeig means for keeping said second-namedvalve member seated while'the first-named valve member moves to acertain distance from its seat, relieving means, operated simultaneouslywith the movement .of said first-named valve member beyond such distancefrom its seat, for stopping the valveseating action of said holdingmeans, and a third valve member, connected to share the motion yof' the.first-named. valve member toward and from the inlet controlled thereby,and arranged to seat on the side of, the inlet opposite to the side onwhich the rstnamed vmember seats, the distance, between the irst andVthird valve members, and' the distance between their seats, being;4 soproportioned that the third'valve member will become seated only sometime after both the first and the secondl valve'members have be.- c-Qmeunseated.

3'. In a device of the character described, a. valve casing having achamber with two inlets and an outlet, a movable valve membercontrolling one oi said inlets, rotary actuating means for pressing saidvalve member toward its seat, said means being held to Vmove in unisonwith the valve member teward and from its seat, but being,` connected'with said member in such a mann-er as to permit rotation of theactuating,V means relatively to the valve member whereby aS. Soon 'asthe latter is seated lightly, it will cease to turn, thus preventing agrinding action of the valve member on its seat, a separately movablemember control-i ling, the other inlet, rotatable hcl-ding means for,keeping the second-named valve member seated while the first-namedvalve member moves vto a certain. distance from its seat, relievingmeans, Operated' simultaneously withl the movement of said' first-namedvalve member beyond such distance -from its seat, 'for' Stopping thevalve-Seating aCtlOl of said holding means, and a thirdvalve member,Connected to Share. the mOtiol Of' the first-named valve member towardand' fremitheinlet controlled thereby, andarranged' to seat on the sideof the inlet 0pposi'te to the side on which the firstnamed member seats,the distance between thel first and third valve members, and thedistance between their seats, being so. proportioned that the thirdvalve member will become seated only some time after both the iirst andthe second valve members have become unseated.

4... The combination of' a valve ,CaS-lg ha ing twoidalnetrcallyopposite inlets, at'equal;

distances from its axis, and an outlet, a valve plate having dierentlylecated ports adapted' to register at the Sametime with the respectiveports of the casing said valveplatev being reversible by turning)r itabout Said axis, jwhereby either pert ofthe valve plate may be made toconnect with .one inlet or the other, .andmeans for controlling thepassage of fluid through said plate.

5. The combination ofla valve casingv having two inlets ondfiametrically opposite* sides of its axis', andan outlet, a valve platehaving aport at a distance from such axis,

to connect., with one of; said inlets, and a central port with a recess.adapted to connect with the other inlet, said valve platebeingreversible by turning it about said axis, whereby either port ,ofthe val-ve plate may be madeto connect withV one inlet or the other, andmea-ns for controlling tlgie passage o'l iiuid through said plate.

6;. The combination @fa Valve; casingA having `two inlets ondiametrically `oprmsitesides oi'its axis, and an outlet, .a reversiblevalveplate provi-dedl with two passagesv the inta-ke ends of which areadapted 't'o'magister1 with said inlets in either positionv olfthefvalve plate, while the discharge @nds of said passages havedifferentdistance relatiions" 'te'- saidaxis, and separate valve-memberscontrollingl said' discharge ends;

7l The combi-'nationof aY valve casing'liaving two inlets and?an'outlet', avalve'plate adjustable for setting it in twoVv differentp0- sit-ions` byl turning it about its anis, said valve plate'beingprovided with two pasl Sages the intake endsiof; which are adapted toconnect with said inlets in eitherpositie-n-v tion oft the valve plate,while the discharge ends of' said passages have dilierent distancerelations to said axis,V and separate val-ve members controlling saiddischarge ends, and carried by sai-,d plate so as-to preserve theirposition relatively theretoiin' either settingrof the plate. l

9. The combina-tion ol'pav separable valve casing, a perted platelocated re'movably within said casing, and port.-con-trollingy meansmounted on said: plate movably and" 5 carried thereby so that saidplat-e may be removed from the casing togetherwith suchport-controllingmeans without dist-'urisingA their relative position.

In testimony whereof I have signed? this;V

specification.

Gaovna s. einen.4

